Rivers Cuomo Meets Damn Daniel in New Weezer Video, “California Kids”

Share:

When Weezer announced in January that their upcoming album would mean a return to the beloved color series, the world rejoiced. When it was revealed that it would be called The White Album, some (me) backpedaled thinking, “Oh man this better be good—that name’s an institution!”

I’m not going to spend any time comparing Weezer to The Beatles because that would be totally pointless. Still, the power pop four-piece have held their own in the bizarre march toward their first record since 2014’s Everything Will Be Alright in the End, and the new video for “California Kids” continues the awesome weirdness.

Directed by SCANTRON and Jade Ehlers, the clip follows Rivers Cuomo as he reenacts scenes from the three previously released White Album videos. “California Kids” opens with Cuomo walking into the same pastry establishment that was destroyed by a revelrous cannoli explosion in the “Thank God for Girls” lyric video. When the same waitress approaches his table with a tray of cannolis, he melts into a series of flashbacks that also revisits the “L.A. Girls” and “King of the World” videos.

The flashback seems to represent “second-guessing almost everything,” as Cuomo sings in the track. But there’s hope: “It’s going to be alright / If you’re on a sinking ship / The California kids / Will throw you a lifeline.” Thanks, California kids.

If the song sounds familiar, it’s because it’s actually a repurposed version of the song “California,” a 2013 track released by Cuomo’s Japanese-language side project with Scott Murphy. The 2016 rendition is a bit more polished and Weezer-esque, plus it features an outro from those “Damn, Daniel” dudes.

What do you think of the new video? Too much cannoli? Not enough? Let us know in the comments.